LOGAN — A series of crashes on U.S. 91 sent seven people to the hospital and closed down a section of the highway for more than four hours Wednesday afternoon. The two multi-vehicle pileups occurred around 4 p.m. at milepost 44 near the Utah/Idaho border.
Utah Highway Patrol Sgt. Jason Kendrick said the accidents appeared to have been caused by a dust storm that created low visibility. The larger pileup involved eight cars that were all traveling in the northbound lanes.
“One car slowed down or near to a stop for the low visibility and other cars ahead slowing down, which started this chain reaction crash that ended up being a total of eight cars,” explained Kendrick.
One of the seven injured individuals was a 20-year-old man driving a Pontiac Grand Am. He had to be extricated by emergency crews and transferred to McKay-Dee Hospital with critical injuries. The remaining six were transported to local hospitals with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.
While the eight-car pileup blocked the northbound lanes, a second chain-reaction crash a block north involved six vehicles blocking the southbound lanes. However, no major injuries were reported.
The investigation and cleanup forced a closure of the highway in both directions. The lanes were reopened just before 8:30 p.m.
Kendrick said the cause of the crashes appears to be weather related and motorists driving too fast for the conditions.
“I know one of the drivers I talked to said, ‘I saw all the dust, I saw it crossing, I saw it all covering. And so I just kind of slowly kept going,’ stated Kendrick. “I thought, why would you not just pull over and wait it out until it clears. It’s like, why would I drive into a tornado when I can see it?”
The identities of the involved parties have not been released at this time. The crashes remain under investigation.